What car tyres to get

[mikeprice]

Hello

 

SO the time has finally come

 

Car is in for servicing and MOT and it turns out that I am going to need new front tyres soon

OK - for now but low enough that replacing the front ones is probably a good idea

 

current ones have lasted quite a while and were done as an emergency when it turned out that the old ones were illegal - and the garage I used at that time was also a tyre place - so I took what they had available

 

so I have not had to look around for many years - especially as I only do about 4-5000 miles a year

 

 

so - I can go on e.g. Nation Tyres website and look at wet grip and sound levels and all that

but I can still come up with a well known brand (e.g. GoodYear and Pirelli - Michellin seem way more expensive) for about £95

or some other brand for maybe £20 cheaper

 

anyone got opinions on whether or not it is worth going for the cheaper brands - I have always suspected they wear out faster based on 'a feeling'

 

Thanks

Edited January 4, 2023 by ZeroHour
Fixed title - ZeroHour

[mikeprice]

Apologies - just noticed the typing mistake in the title

 

still - saves having to look to see who posted it!!

 

can;t immediately see how to change it!

[3s-gtech]

Many people will say there is no difference. They tend to be careful, cautious drivers that haven’t had to put them fully to the test.

 

Having had a variety of budgets, some on more powerful cars, I won’t buy them any more. Wet grip is often very poor IME, with the no-brand stuff.

 

Mid range can often yield some decent results. I like the Avon/Coopers on three of my cars. Bridgestone on another, much more expensive but size can change availability. You won’t go wrong with most of the premium brands.

 

There are a few factors that matter, then. Wear rate can be greater with cheap tyres, or wet grip may be well down, or they may be noisy. If you pootle and potter around, they might be okay for you. If you press on in all weathers, you might scare yourself silly.

[Aprice]

I go for Continental tyres where possible, after attending one of their events driving cars with various tyres on in some more aggressive situations (Slamming the brakes on / avoiding objects on wet road at speed e.t.c) it was quite alarming how poor some of the more 'budget' options were.

[mikeprice]

Clearly wet grip is important

but some of the big national companies have a rating for this on the websites

 

I presume this is sensible and is a reasonable indication of how well the tyre works in the wet

 

Anyone know if this is correct?

[timbo343]

What are your wheel sizes as this could depend on what tyres are available.

 

Some tyre review websites are full of those that drive high performance cars and you'll read that they love the tyres that stick to the track. I bought some toyo tyres based on "sticky reviews" and took them to the garage ive used for donkeys and they told me they are soft and will wear out quick, which is what they did.

 

My wheel size is 195/45 R16 and found the Landsails LS288 are probably the best tyres ive had on my car, after having some acceleras and continentals.

 

Just make sure they balance and track the wheels so they wear evenly. I got some tyres fitted and they werent balanced or tracked and they lasted 8000 miles before being worn down to the canvas on the inside.

 

There's nothing worse than having an unbalanced wheel(s) or a buckled rim when driving at 60 or 70.

Edited January 4, 2023 by timbo343

[3s-gtech]

Briefly had Landsails on the front of the TT, as they were what came on some wheels I bought. They were hilarious, in that low speed roundabouts were just understeer and hope.

 

I would fit them to a city car but nothing bigger - it’s all subjective though.

 

Putting Michelin Pilot Sport 5s on an Aygo is usually overkill, on the other hand!

[jmak]

I've always read recent tyre reviews before buying tyres - usually the one published in Auto Bild and Auto Express where they get loads of tyres and compare them in identical conditions. (I am a self identifying geek....)

 

I usually choose the one based on a combination of the wet handling, braking, aquaplaning tests. I generally ignore comfort, noise and economy as they're lower priority for me - it's what they do when things go horribly wrong that interests me.

 

That invariably means expensive tyres, although looking at the wear scores I think it might not have cost much more over the years.

 

I always divide the cost by expected mileage and then I would compare it to how much I spent on petrol - even expensive tyres don't look like a major part of car running costs.

 

Did I mention I have tendencies towards geekishness?

[hardtailstar]

Different tyres work for different people/cars obviously.

 

I had continental tyres on my old Fiesta ST and basically it was like being on ice round corners.

 

On my current car I have Michelin Pilot Sport 4s and I'm sure I'll go for them again as I've been happy with them.

[CHiLL]

Clearly wet grip is important

but some of the big national companies have a rating for this on the websites

 

I presume this is sensible and is a reasonable indication of how well the tyre works in the wet

 

Anyone know if this is correct?

A tyre place put this into context for me - the tyre performance ratings you see are a universal/global rating system, which isn't reflective of individual country weather patterns. With different ambient temperatures, air pressures, road surface quality and some other factors...it isn't the be all and end all of choosing a tyre. That said, a tyre with all A ratings is likely to perform better regardless than a tyre with all C ratings for example, though the amount of difference may differ between regions.

[Oaktech]

I put Uniroyal on the MX5 and Goodyear Efficient Grip on everything else.

[Dos_Box]

@mikeprice, what kind of car do you have?

[Davit2005]

Different tyres work for different people/cars obviously.

 

I had continental tyres on my old Fiesta ST and basically it was like being on ice round corners.

 

On my current car I have Michelin Pilot Sport 4s and I'm sure I'll go for them again as I've been happy with them.

 

Same here, 2018 Seat Leon Cupra, at 35k I have the original tyres on the back I think they are continentals, the fronts have been replaced once and are Michelin Pilot Sport 4s now and have about 3mm tread left. Having a car like this in the snow can be unnerving but if you take it easy and don't ask too much of them they are fine, dry weather I cannot fault them and can really give the accelerator pedal a good heavy foot without any issue apart from a bit of fun torque steer.

 

The car can influence tyres, I took my friends metro (nothing special jus a 1.4) for tyres about 20 years back to costco and they cost £50 more than the BFGoodrich tyres on my then current Range Rover due to the size and profile.

[Dos_Box]

Before my Mondeo was written off last summer I'd just had a pair of Debica tyres fitted to the front. The guy at the tyre places explained they are a Polish manufacturer and majority owned by Goodyear (they also make Debica tyres in their plants too) and have put a lot of R&D into the company since they came onboard in 2007. I was quite happy with them and they were certainly affordable.

[Sonic007]

I think you should definately get round ones.

[mikeprice]

@mikeprice, what kind of car do you have?

 

2010 Honda Civic

 

red

[mikeprice]

I have had a look at some conparititve test and am now even more confused

 

trying to work out whether it is best to go for the best wet grip

wet stopping

aqua hydro

dry grip

 

 

etc etc etc

 

 

and all that without knowing if the test they did are even close to what I would want from normal driving (for me) in the UK!

[SteveB_NI]

I think you should definately get round ones.

 

Not necessarily... I have a Triangle tyre on at the moment (not my choice - came with the car) and it performs not too bad.

 

I need a new tyre soon so thinking of going Michelin Pilot Sport 4 or 5. Brilliant tyres & what I've used for years.

 

Expensive though - my irregular size doesn't help

[Dos_Box]

2010 Honda Civic

 

red

 

Good job it's red as it goes with black.

[36Degrees]

I think it depends on how much driving you do and the nature of the roads.

 

OH does about 3K miles per annum just going backwards and forwards to work. She bought mid-range (Davanti) and has been very happy with them.

 

I do about 17K pa so always buy premium. Currently I fit Goodyear as they have the best combination of price, fuel economy, wet weather performance and noise. The one thing I have to be aware of is that there are a special 'Mercedes fit' that have worse ratings.

 

Speak to your local tyre place, assuming you trust them, they will tell you the pros and cons as even premium tyres can be softer. For example, I had a fairly rare car many years ago that used to have Yokohamas on. They were cheaper than the only other premium tyre available but were softer so wore a bit quicker. I decided the price difference versus wear made them the better option particularly as that meant better grip and my commute was along country roads including the early hours.

[mikeprice]

Good job it's red as it goes with black.

 

How much are white wall tyres anyway?

[Dos_Box]

How much are white wall tyres anyway?

 

It's been done:

 

[simonw]

I have a Mazda 6 Tourer and it came with Bridgestone boots. I've always kept to the same tyre until recently hunting around for replacements. I got a great deal for Goodyears, A for wet grip and B for fuel economy, with Asda Tyres plus got a £20 Asda voucher.

 

Had thought of buying part-worn tyres, to save money, but was slightly nervous about reliability and getting matched tyres.

[jmak]

I have had a look at some conparititve test and am now even more confused

 

trying to work out whether it is best to go for the best wet grip

wet stopping

aqua hydro

dry grip

 

 

etc etc etc

 

 

and all that without knowing if the test they did are even close to what I would want from normal driving (for me) in the UK!

It's a bit tricky. I've found that generally a tyre that performs well in some of the wet tests does reasonably well in all of them, even if it's not actually top. The one that can be a bit inconsistent is aquaplaning - it's a complete guess, but my instinct is that you're more likely to skid/lock wheels emergency braking on a wet road than aquaplane.

 

I've actually gone for an all season tyre, despite the fact it only gets an average score compared to the summer tyres. That's because it performs massively better in temps below 7°C and there's even more of a difference on ice and my guess is that's when we're most likely to need the extra grip. A lot of our miles are before 7am and where we live there are a lot of mornings when it's 7°C or cooler.

 

In general, as others have said, don't skimp - it's the only thing preventing you from crashing however good the handling or safety features of your car - and replace them before you get down to the bare minimum. I've always been advised you should change at 3mm tread depth.

[Chris_Cook]

I'd recommend something middle of the road from a well known brand. Most tires these days are pretty good - even the unbranded ones on my chinese motorbike handled really well. I would have got the same again if I could find them.

 

The grip and life span/wear rate of tires is always going to be a trade off. Harder tires will last longer but have less grip. Softer tires have more grip but faster wear rate. Unless you are especially aggressive or passive with your driving style, I'd try and balance it out.

 

Also, most reviewers are going to be comparing brand new soft tires to older harder worn out tires, so anything is going to be an improvement.

 

Probably also worth seeking the advice of the tire fitters. If they have something in stock, its probably good and quicker than waiting for something to be ordered. They probably have knowledge of what works well in your area/environment/climate and on that model of car. Certainly on bike tires there are other differences like Radials and Bias Ply that matter depending on the bike. There may be similar issues on car tires.

 

Date codes are also important if you are ordering your own tires. There is a 4 digit 'DOT' code on all tires that tells you the week and year of manufacture. Tires have a shelf life (i think about 8 years) over which the rubber degrades. Make sure you arn't getting palmed off with some old stock.